13th floor
by Italian writer
Summary: Another Stunt adventure. A dangerous entity is hiding in a (not so) modern hotel. As usual, Stunt lends a hands and ends up in troubles.
1. Chapter 1

Saturday morning, 8:00 am. I was taking a shower, and you all know that unfathomable bond between showers and bells, don't you? As soon as you are thoroughly lathered, something rings. In this case it was the door bell, so I had no choice but to quickly rinse, hurriedly wrap myself in a towel and rush to the door, dripping water all over my studio.

The pair of blue eyes that were looking back at me from the other side of the peep hole were familiar: Mercury.

I opened the door and let him in, asking: "Mercury! What brings you here on a Saturday morning?"

He got in with a single stride of his long legs, looked at me, and said, apologetically: "I'm truly sorry to disturb you on your day off, detective, and during your morning ablutions no less, but we have something of an emergency situation."

I waved him to sit down, and asked: "Do you mind if I dry off while we talk? I can hear you from the bathroom."

He made himself comfortable on my small couch, and said, loud enough for me to hear him through my half-closed bathroom door: "You see, Sapphire and Steel are on assignment here in L.A., but something is preventing them from reaching the target site."

"Preventing them? You mean they cannot teleport there?"

"No. For some reason they keep teleporting to the floor above or below the 13th, which is where the time anomaly is developing."

That definitely piqued my curiosity. "What building are you talking about?"

"The Ambassadors Hotel, that newly renovated hotel in Santa Monica."

I knew what he was talking about; I often drove by that building and had the chance to follow the different renovation steps. They were supposed to host a grand opening ceremony in a couple of weeks. How very odd, though: usually hotels do not have a 13th floor, out of respect for superstitious guests, so I asked him: "Are you sure they need to go to that specific floor?"

"Positive. They have even tried to reach it from the elevator, but the buttons go from the 12th to the 14th. Same thing with the stairs. The funny thing is that they can feel the time anomaly, only they cannot reach it."

I got out of the bathroom fully dressed, though my hair was still damp, and asked him: "How am I supposed to help them? If they can't reach their destination, I wouldn't know what to do."

He flashed a dimpled smile at me, and said: "You _always _know what to do. According to Steel, you're the most resourceful human he knows, and your often come out with very… uhm… creative solutions."

No wonder Mercury was specialized in communications; he certainly knew how to talk people into doing what he requested, with that irresistible smile and a few well placed praises. So who could have blamed me for giving up instantly?

"All right, Mercury, I'll go to the Ambassadors Hotel right away."

He knew how to properly reward people, too. He stood up, cupped my cheeks with his hands and placed a big kiss on my forehead, saying: "Thank you. I knew I could count on you. Good luck."

I was taken aback: "Wait! You're not coming?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm not supposed to join them in this assignment. I'm needed elsewhere. Be careful, detective." That said, he disappeared and left me standing there wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into, this time.


	2. Chapter 2

Twenty minutes later I was standing in front of a beautifully appointed luxury hotel. Too bad I also had to break in. What if there was an alarm system?

But when I went around the building and tried the back door, I had the pleasant surprise of seeing it partially open. Probably my elemental friends had provided me with a way in, after all. Without further ado, I entered the building and headed toward the closest elevator. As I surmised, there was no 13th push-button on the panel. So I just pressed the 14th and decided to try the stairs from there.

When I got out of the elevator at the 14th floor, I went down the stairs one floor, and ended up on the 12th. No sign of an intermediate floor. An no sign of Sapphire and Steel, either. Where the heck were they? Maybe they found out a way to reach the missing floor, after all? I tried concentrating, hoping to hear their mental voices. As soon as I opened my mind to the mysterious communication channel I seemed to share with my elemental friends, I heard them. The problem was that they sounded so scared, they immediately conveyed their fear to my mind. I stiffened, and tried to calm down the adrenaline surge that was seizing my whole body in response.

I heard Sapphire yelling: _"Steel! Something's wrong!"_

Steel's mental voice was unmistakably worried: _"Sapphire! Where are you? I can't see you."_

Now Sapphire's answer sounded farther off. _"I'm being repelled by some entity that doesn't want me here. It's so powerful, Steel. I can't fight it without your help."_

Now Steel seemed on the brink of desperation. Being unable to help his partner was probably his worst nightmare. _"I can't help you if I cannot reach you! Fight it back, Sapphire! Fight it back!"_

"_I can't…"_ Her voice sounded so faint. Steel's, on the contrary, boomed in my mind: _"YOU CAN!"_

"_It's no use, Steel. It's got me."_ Sapphire said in a excruciatingly defeated tone.

The last thing I heard before a complete, overwhelming silence was Steel's inarticulate shout of… what? Pain, fear, despair? I couldn't really tell, but I reacted frantically; I had to find a way to reach my friends.

I tried to calm down and think. Steel believed in my resourcefulness, so I could not let him down. I am also pretty down to earth, so I decided that there had to be a way to reach the 13th floor without possessing my friends' teleporting ability.

Well, only one way to find out. I stepped into the open elevator with a chair I found on the hallway and with my little portable Swiss knife I started taking off the screws that held the overhead ventilation grill in place. I climbed outside the elevator's cage, found the maintenance ladder I was looking for and promptly started to climb it up. When I reached the next floor's door, I opened it with the emergency lever and stepped inside. And, sure enough, the sign over the elevator proudly sported the number 13 in gold lettering! So it existed, after all; it was just very well hidden.

I immediately started searching for my friends. The first one I saw was Steel, slumped against a wall, eyes closed. I could see no evident injury, but I felt for his pulse out of habit. His heart was beating reassuringly, so I tried to revive him. I also called him several times, but he didn't react. So, not sure how I was supposed to awaken an unconscious element, I gathered him on my lap, put a hand on his forehead and tried to reach his mind. Very fleetingly I realized that I probably looked like Mr. Spock doing one of his mind melds, but I was desperate enough to try even that.

After a few minutes of total concentration, I started hearing something in my mind. No, _hearing_ wasn't the right word; I felt Steel's presence, his essence, inside my head. It was a very strange experience. Not unpleasant, though. It was like hosting Steel's mind inside my own, a sharing of consciousness of sorts.

I tentatively called his name aloud. "Steel? Can you hear me?"

His eyelids fluttered, and his gaze slowly focused on my face. He mumbled: "What… what are you doing here?"

"Mercury asked me to reach you."

He was still confused: "Mercury? Reach me? Where?"

I was taken aback: "You don't know where we are?"

He slowly and painstakingly gathered himself up, looking around dazedly. Just as I expected, his next question was: "Where's Sapphire?"

I couldn't help him with that. "I don't know. Last time I heard her voice, she said that an entity was trying to keep her from staying here. And, from the sound of it, it succeeded. Then you yelled, and next thing I know you were unconscious on the floor."

He leaned against the wall heavily, raising a hand to his forehead, clearly trying to recollect the events.

I asked him: "You mean you don't remember what happened?"

He shook his head, frustrated. "Just bits and pieces. I don't remember what happened when Sapphire disappeared, nor what caused my unconsciousness. But I do remember that as soon as we managed to teleport here, we sensed a very powerful presence. Powerful and... evil."

Steel's tone sent shivers down my spine. "What kind of presence?"

"I don't know. We could only feel the waves of malevolence it was sending off. I can only imagine how strong the impression was for Sapphire. She's so sensitive to these types of entities. I do remember that we got separated somehow. I could hear her in my mind but I couldn't see her physically. And I couldn't help her when she needed me. I failed her."

I had to shake him out of that uncharacteristic self-blaming mood. "You just lost a battle, not the war. But you can help her now. If you give yourself a chance, and accept the assistance of a human ally."

He just looked at me silently for a good minute, and slowly I started to see a new resolve lighting up his grey eyes, until his usual determined expression was back in place.

He said: "You're right, of course. Let's search this floor and look for the time anomaly or the entity that is causing it."

I smiled, for that was the Steel I knew. A mixture of a bloodhound following a trail and a bull loose in a china shop!

We thoroughly searched the rooms, one by one, also hoping to find Sapphire, but she was nowhere to be seen. We split up to speed up the process, and in less than ten minutes we had searched all the rooms, except the last one; room number 13.

I whispered: "Steel, this is the 13th room of the 13th floor. Don't you think..."

He nodded. "Yes, I agree. This is where the entity is hiding. Now I can even feel its presence."

I was glad I couldn't feel anything, because judging by Steel's paler than usual complexion, that entity was sending off surges of something very unpleasant. My friend even had to briefly lean on the wall to support himself before opening the door. A soon as he stepped inside, he hesitated for a second and staggered back a few steps, as if hit by some invisible but overwhelming force. I was still unaffected, so I walked in and turned the light on, for the room was too dark to see anything at all.

It was a suite, with a very large living room. A big armchair was facing one of the closed windows, and I was pretty sure that the entity was sitting there, probably enjoying the whole situation. If it was expecting me to turn round the armchair to have a look at its face, it was damn wrong. I gestured Steel to distract the entity and I headed for the other rooms in search of Sapphire.

Steel asked: "Who are you?"

Silence. Steel insisted: "What have you done with my partner?"

That caused a reaction, but probably not the one Steel was hoping for. The entity laughed. It was a coarse laugh, like some kind of beast trying to imitate human sounds.

I joined my friend in the living room, shaking my head to let him know that there were no signs of his partner.

I knew Steel could not afford to confront the entity without knowing what it had done with Sapphire first, and I could tangibly feel his reluctance to attack. But I also knew that Steel's priority was the success of the assignment. I waited for him to make the first move.

He said, resolutely: "Hiding here will serve no purpose. Now that we have found you, we will stop you."

The creature laughed again, but this time it also stood up from the armchair and turned around to face us.

It had human features, but something was very wrong. When I took a better look, I noticed that half of his face was young, with a soft and full skin, while the other half was old, wrinkled and drooping.

It made a few steps toward us, and Steel protectively moved in front of me. I didn't protest, because that creature was scaring the hell out of me. When it spoke, its rasping voice sent shivers down my spine.

"Stop me? With the help of a weakly human? The only one who could stop me has already been defeated. You are powerless against me."

And, to prove its point, it raised one hand and pointed its index finger at Steel. The effect was astounding: the time agent was hurled backwards as if hit by an overwhelming force and, being right behind him, I found myself with an armful of Steel. His head collided with my chin, hard. My vision filled with little white dots, but I could not afford the luxury of losing consciousness. The force of the blow pushed us near the suite's door, so I took the chance to make a dignified retreat. Steel's body was limp in my arms, so I dragged him with all my force outside the room. As soon as we set our feet on the hallway, the door swung close with a loud bang.

I kept dragging Steel as far as I could from room number 13, but he was incredibly heavy and after a few steps I had to stop, hoping that the entity didn't feel like finishing what it had started. But no sounds came out of the room, and the door stayed closed, so I allowed myself to lean against the wall and slump to the floor, still supporting my friend's dead weight.

I laid there for a good five minutes, panting and hugging Steel. Without realizing it, I had started stroking his hair in an attempt at taking comfort from his reassuring presence. That light contact probably connected our two minds for the second time, and contributed to awaken him once again. He moaned while his eyes fluttered open.

As soon as they focused on my face, he asked: "What happened?"

"The entity hit you with some sort of energy. That's probably the same thing he did to you before, for you lost consciousness again."

He closed his eyes again and relaxed slightly on my lap, as if gathering his strength. I kept caressing his hair, simply because if felt so comforting, probably for both of us. When he looked at me again, he noticed the big bruise that I was sure was rapidly developing on my chin. He lightly touched it with one finger, and asked: "Did it hit you, too?"

I shook my head, not eager to tell him what happened. "No. You did." And I quickly added: "Not on purpose, of course. You were thrust backwards by that blast of energy and we collided. I must say, hitting your head is like running into a metal wall!"

He was not sidetracked by my attempt at joking, and he said, looking contrite: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know, Steel, don't worry." I lightly kissed him on his forehead to prove that I held no grudge against him. He softly caressed my cheek, and said: "Help me up, detective, will you?"

His request of assistance was so out of character, I started wondering what was wrong with him. I helped him to get up, and I noticed that once again he staggered a little before being able to stand on his own.

I couldn't help asking him: "What's the matter with you, Steel? You seem... weakened." I almost whispered the word, because it was such an unfitting description for him.

He said between clenched teeth: "That's because I am. I am completely powerless, detective. None of my powers work here, and somehow my energies are declining."

That explained a lot of things, but now we had to find the reason why he lost his powers. I left him leaning on the wall to give him a chance to fully recover from the recent blow, and I started walking the place again in search of more clues. I was not sure what I was looking for, but I couldn't stand still anyway, and I knew that walking around would help me concentrate.

I distractedly glanced out of the window, but I had to look twice; I stretched my neck and squinted my eyes, but my brain confirmed my first glimpse.

I called the time agent. "Steel. Come over here and have a look."

He reached me at the end of the hallway and looked out of the window. I could feel him tense. He murmured: "That explains everything."

I watched again outside the window, but there was no mistaking the outdated look of the buildings, the cars and the street lights: that was how Santa Monica looked like in the 1930's.

The 13th floor existed only in the past.


	3. Chapter 3

When we had entered the 13th floor we had traveled back in time. That was why Steel had lost his powers. For some reason, when the time agents do not operate in the present they become powerless as the next human.

The fact that he was also losing his energies was still unexplained, though.

I asked him: "Maybe that entity is somehow sucking up your elemental energy?"

He nodded. "It's entirely possible. If that's the case, we must act before I become completely helpless."

"How do you want to proceed?"

He put a hand on his forehead and massaged lightly, as if he was starting to develop a headache. "To tell you the truth, detective, I have no idea. I fear the loss of energy is also affecting my mental skills."

Uh, oh. That was bad news. Much worse than a physical weakness. Steel had always been the mastermind of our assignments, the unwavering deviser who always came up with some brilliant plan. I had learnt to rely on this aspect of his personality, just like Sapphire had. Therefore, knowing that now he would not come up with some smart plan was quite disheartening.

Unfortunately I couldn't help him; I was not knowledgeable enough on time entities to suggest a course of action. My experience was limited to ordinary criminals; ruthless and wicked perhaps, but never with supernatural powers.

I forced myself to stop thinking about what I couldn't do and started considering what I _could _do. Thinking outside the box has often helped me to get out of tough and apparently hopeless situations, so now I had to rely on that.

My gears started turning and after a while supplied a possible solution. Maybe I could assist Steel, after all, only with a different type of help.

When I turned towards my friend to share my idea with him, I was shocked to see that he was squatting with his back against the wall, holding his head in his hands.

I immediately crouched down in front of him, cupping his face with my hands. "What's the matter, Steel?"

His eyes were slow to focus on my face. He spoke hesitantly: "I don't know, detective. I feel like I'm losing the ability to think. Along with my physical strength."

My God, he was rapidly turning into the shadow of himself. I could not afford to wait any longer.

I forced him to look at me and said, firmly: "Steel, listen to me. Do you think you could draw some energy from me?"

He asked, falteringly: "From you? How?"

"Simply inverting the same process you employ when you convey your own energy to Sapphire. Could you do that?"

"Theoretically I could, but..."

"No buts!" I said, resolutely, trying to shake him out of his growing insecurity. "Just do it."

Without further ado, he grabbed my wrists and closed his eyes, concentrating hard. I could tell it was an enormous effort for him, probably his last burst of energy.

Nothing happened at first, but then I started feeling colder and colder, and my thoughts got sluggish. My body felt exceedingly tired, almost as if I had just run the New York marathon. So that was how Steel was feeling earlier; not pleasant at all, especially for such a powerful elemental.

I was on my knees now, and Steel was still drawing my energies. Apparently he did not realize he was overdoing it and now he was sucking up my vital force. I knew I had to stop him before it was too late; I already felt as if I had lost half of my blood. I weakly tried to pull my wrists free, but his hold was unyielding.

Panicking, I called out: "Steel! Stop it! You're drawing too much!"

But he didn't hear me, too focused on the process. I was rapidly succumbing to the excessive loss of energy; I felt my body slump to the floor, while my arms were firmly held in Steel's grip. I tried to reach his mind in a last attempt at saving what little vital force I had left. "_Steel. You're killing me. Please, stop. Can you hear me? Steel!"_

It was no use. He couldn't or didn't want to hear me, probably too famished to care. His self-preservation had taken control, and he was not thinking rationally anymore.

My eyes closed on their own volition, eyelids too heavy to lift. I felt my brain shut down all its functions, one by one, like a computer closing the running software applications.

How ironic: I was about to get killed by the very man I had grown to love.


	4. Chapter 4

""... grown to love... grown to love... grown to love..."

My last thoughts were resonating inside my head, like some sort of bizarre echo. I felt dazed, as if someone else dwelled in my head.

I didn't feel so cold anymore, for I was laying someplace warm. Someplace soft. Someplace that smelled like... Steel.

I cautiously opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was Steel's face, watching me with a questioning look.

He was sitting on the floor, and I was laying on his lap. Not much of an improvement from half an hour before, only our positions were reversed. He was also hugging me in an attempt at keeping me warm.

When he noticed that I was awake, he said, in a husky voice: "I never realized you felt that."

I mumbled, confused: "What?"

He shook his head, dismissing the thought. "Never mind. How are you feeling now?"

"Weak, but glad to still be here."

Ruefully, he said: "It was a close call. I wasn't able to cut off the energy draw."

"What made you stop?"

"Your thoughts reached my mind. I heard your words, and they shook me from my unawareness."

It seemed that my last desperate mental call made it to his consciousness in time, after all.

Now I was feeling strong enough to stand on my own, but I allowed myself to linger a little bit and bask in Steel's embrace. It was so good to feel his arms wrapped around my body, to smell his distinctive scent, to feast my eyes on his handsome face, to drown in the grey depth of his eyes. My God, I was really falling for this man, and I could not afford that.

So I forced myself to extricate from his embrace and to stand up unsteadily. I could feel the lack of energies due to Steel's withdrawal, but it was manageable.

I asked him, hopefully: "Any ideas, yet?"

He nodded, pensively. "Yes. Do you remember what the entity said?"

"More or less, yes."

"It said that the only person that could stop it had already been defeated. I think it was referring to Sapphire."

"Go on."

"It said defeated, not destroyed. That means that Sapphire is alive and has just been sent somewhere else, and now she's probably trying to come back here to annihilate the entity. I think she knows how to do that."

I was unconvinced. "Then why didn't she do that when she had the chance?"

"Because her powers could not work here. She also needed my help, but I couldn't give her any; the entity managed to separate us. It also had already started to deplete me of my own energy, and I didn't have enough to assist Sapphire."

"So you think that Sapphire is around here, somewhere, trying to get to the 13th floor again, but not succeeding because the entity is stopping her?"

He nodded resolutely. "Yes. But I think I have a better plan: since our powers do not work when we travel in time, as we are doing while we are staying on this floor, we must find a way to bring the entity back to the present, back to where Sapphire is waiting for us."

I asked, bluntly: "How?"

"I think I know how. Come with me."

I followed him into one of the rooms. He rummaged inside for a while, until he found a lighter and a little bottle of complimentary aftershave, and promptly pocketed them. Then he headed toward the closet and opened the doors. He made a small wicked smile when he found what he was looking for: a mirrored closet door. He easily took it off from the closet and brought it in front of room no. 13, the one inhabited by the entity.

He positioned the mirror right in front of the door, then he told me: "Come over here. You must hold the mirror. Keep it at a slight angle from the door. Be careful to stay behind it, though; if everything works as planned, the entity will throw one of its blasts at it."

I finally realized what he had in mind. I asked him: "Are you going to act as bait?"

Positioning himself beside the closed door, facing the mirror so that his reflected image was visible from inside the room, he said. "Yes. Are you ready?"

I nodded and braced myself, flexing my knees as if getting ready to be hit by a charging bull.

Steel yelled in the direction of the closed door: "Your attempts at drawing my energy have been thwarted. My human friend took care of that. Not so weakly after all, is she? I know what you have in mind, and I won't allow you to fulfill your plans. You'd better give up and go back to where you belong."

We distinctly heard the entity's reply: "You have no power against me. I can still easily defeat you."

At that point, Steel opened the door with a quick jerk of his hand and, still facing the mirror, he said: "Prove it."

Growling with rage, the entity raised his hand again and threw another burst of energy toward the time agent. In its fury it totally missed the fact that it was aiming at a mirror, so it did not expect its own power to backfire. The effect was exactly what Steel had been hoping for: the creature was hit squarely in the chest and collapsed yelling in pain.

Steel darted into the room and, without even looking at the entity wriggling on the floor, he poured the content of the aftershave bottle on a stuffed armchair, then used the lighter to set fire to the piece of furniture, using the alcoholic aftershave as fuel.

He probably knew that in the 1930's the use of fire-retardant fabrics was not yet mandatory in hotels, and was actually counting on that.

The armchair started burning in a matter of a few seconds, rapidly spreading the hungry flames to the other furniture. In less than a minute the whole room was blazing, and the floor and the walls were quickly burning out.

Not quickly enough, though; the creature was starting to recover from its own blow, and I could see that it was about to stand and counterattack. I yelled a warning at Steel, who reacted as fast as lightning: he threw himself at the entity - that man really feared nothing - and grabbed its arms from behind, effectively preventing it to raise its hands to hit again.

The creature, frustrated, opened its mouth in a banshee-like cry that pierced my ears. Its mouth was unnaturally wide, and was almost taking up all of its already ugly face. The effect was really unbearable to watch.

Although he was standing behind the source of the piercing sound, even Steel grimaced in pain at the unbearable noise. He didn't let go, though, but I knew that he could not hold on much longer. He could not apply his elemental force, only the strength of an ordinary human being, which was not enough for such a powerful creature, albeit wounded.

I could not approach the two struggling figures because of the ear-splitting sound and the roaring fire, and also because that entity was far too scary for my little human heart.

Keeping at a safe distance from the searing flames, I could see that the entity wriggled wildly and managed to disentangle from Steel's grip, but before he could raise its dangerous hands, the time agent threw himself at it in a crushing hug, exploiting the momentum to push them both toward the source of the fire. I could not see well, but I was pretty sure the armchair wasn't there anymore. I was fervently hoping the reason was that the floor had finally yielded and collapsed downstairs, and that Steel was trying to force the entity to fall to the 12th floor. But I knew that my elemental friend was capable of throwing himself into the flames in an attempt at destroying the creature.

I felt my heart tighten at the thought, but I refused to yield to desperation yet. There was no way I could enter the room now, for it was a raging inferno, so I decided to go back the same way I came in before the fire reached the elevator pit, virtually cutting off all escape routes.

I rushed to the elevator door, still open, and climbed down the ladder, getting off at the 12th floor. The modern style of furnishings and the different lighting momentarily befuddled me, but I rapidly took my bearings and headed toward room no. 13.

Only there was no room no. 13. The numbers skipped from 12 to 14.

But my hesitation was short lived, for now I was distinctly feeling the typical throbbing caused by Sapphire employing her power at full intensity level. I rushed towards room no. 14 and flung the door open.

I left out a huge sigh of relief, for the first thing I saw was Steel's back. When he heard the door open, he turned and looked at me. His grey suit was only slightly burnt and torn in a few places, but he looked otherwise unscathed.

Once I had made sure that Steel was all right, I could finally focus on what was happening in the room. Sapphire was standing in front of the creature, unmoving, and her eyes were shining their brightest blue. The entity was clearly not enjoying the treatment, since it was gradually but steadily losing consistence. It was still screaming, but the sound was distinctly dying down. I noticed that Steel clenched his fists and closed his eyes, knitting his brow in concentration, and that caused Sapphire's eyes to turn even brighter. The effect was astounding: with a final shout, the entity disappeared into nothingness altogether.

The sudden silence was almost disconcerting. The only audible sound now was my own ragged breath. I tried to control it leaning against a wall, and I mumbled: "I hope they're paying you enough for this job, guys."

Sapphire flashed one of her beautiful smiles at me, while Steel of course just glared at me, commenting: "I'm sure you don't get paid very well either, detective, and yet you risk your life every day."

"Maybe, but at least the bad guys I get to deal with are not quite as spooky."

Sapphire said: "Your help has been invaluable again, detective. The Authority should definitely add you to our ranks."

I faked a horrified expression. "No, thanks. I'd rather face the whole Colombian drug cartel than one of your single time entities! I'm happy to lend a hand from time to time, but I would never want to turn it into a full-time job."

She said: "Pity. I think we would all welcome the chance to work with you on a steady basis." Then she added, rather cryptically: "Some more than others."

I was about to ask her what she meant, but Steel anticipated me and said, in a rather edgy voice: "We have to go now. Thank you for your assistance."

They didn't even wait for an answer, and just teleported away. Quite hastily, if I might add, leaving an astonished and rather disappointed woman behind.


	5. Chapter 5

When I got out of the hotel and finally had a chance to look at the time, I was surprised to see that it was nine o'clock in the morning, the same time it was when I entered the now destroyed 13th floor.

Which, if you think about it, made a lot of sense: that floor did not exist in the present, so time didn't flow in that isolated bubble of the past.

That meant that I could still enjoy the whole day off, but I was so tired that the only thing I felt like doing was to go home and rest. Maybe my watch did not realize it, but my body was feeling the full impact of the exhausting hours I spent inside that frigging building.

I also needed some time to think about Steel's hasty leave. Granted, I had no right to expect anything more, but it was not like him to leave without as much as a goodbye. In fact, lately he had taken on the habit of lingering with me after Sapphire had already left. Those rare moments were very precious, because we could afford the luxury of enjoying each other's company without worrying about the assignment. He could also let his mask of ruthless and unemotional time agent slip a little bit, allowing me to see the full depth of his personality, which is much more complex than what catches the eye, and actually hides an unexpected tenderness.

I realized that it was that tenderness that I was missing now. I had grown used to letting him soothe the turmoil that I always felt after carrying out an assignment with the time agents. I am a mere human, after all, and dealing with time breaks and supernatural entities is sometimes overwhelming for my sanity. But one of Steel's hugs or kisses had the power of making me forget all about the danger and enjoy the soothing physicality of his presence.

It was true that every time that happened I ended up feeling so guilty about Sapphire, that I never allowed anything more than a few kisses, albeit passionate, although I knew that she and Steel weren't in a relationship. Still, I knew that they were more than working partners. Once Steel told me that human terms could not explain the kind of involvement they have. I trust him, but I can't help thinking that I'm being unfair to Sapphire.

As I was mulling over these thoughts, I unconsciously drove home. I was almost surprised to find myself parked in front of my apartment building. And none too early, for at that moment it started to rain heavily, a perfect complement to my gloomy mood. I got into my little studio with a sigh of relief, looking forward to a long, hot shower.

And, sure enough, the door bell rang again when I was all nice and soaked. Snorting, I hastily wrapped myself in my towel and ran to the door, saying aloud: "Mercury, are you directly connected to my shower?"

But the person standing in front of my door was not Mercury. It was Steel, who had evidently taken a while to make the decision of ringing my bell, for he was as soaked as me.

I looked at him for a few seconds, bewildered, before realizing that he was dripping. I beckoned him in, asking: "How long have you been standing in the rain?"

He looked down at his own clothes, almost surprised to see them wet, and said: "I don't know. Probably quite a while."

I pointed out: "Apparently you have something very difficult to tell me, if it took you so long to make up your mind."

"Not difficult; just... hard."

I utterly missed the difference, but I didn't press the point. I could see that he needed time to find the courage to say the four words we all end up hearing at some point in our lives: 'We need to talk.'

So I said, not bothering to conceive my disappointed tone: "Let's get it over with, shall we?"

His hurt look made me realize that maybe I had misunderstood his words, but I decided to let him fumble with his thoughts. I didn't care if he was no good at talking; I was eager to end the agony as soon as possible.

So his next words were so unexpected, that I almost started.

"You are falling in love with me."

I recovered from that bombshell remarkably fast, and managed to answer with astonishing dignity. "Does that surprise you?"

"It... boggles the mind, yes."

In a somewhat softer voice, I said: "I don't know how it works with your own kind, but as far as I am concerned, I don't make a habit of kissing people I don't feel deeply for."

That was when he hit me.

"That might be a problem."

Ouch, that hurt. I had to turn away, because I was not going to let him see how deeply he had wounded me.

In a surprisingly steady voice, I said, pretending to look at the rain: "I wasn't expecting you to reciprocate. You see, sometimes we human beings have the funny habit of falling in love with people who don't care about us. Sometimes we don't even need encouragement, although kisses do fall under that category. As soon as you go back to the hub, you should look up the term 'unrequited love.' I think you will find the subject fascinating."

I wanted to say more, but I couldn't: my eyes were stinging with tears that I refused to let fall. I was _not _going to make a fool of myself in front of Steel.

He didn't say anything for an excruciatingly long time, and I stubbornly kept looking out of the window, half expecting him to hit the door and leave. I was pretty sure he didn't know how to deal with a human display of emotion. That was probably Sapphire's territory.

So I startled when I felt his arms wrap me from behind and heard his voice a few inches from my ear, saying: "Why do you keep misunderstanding me, Constance?"

I took a shaky breath, and answered with another question: "Why don't you just say openly that you don't want to have anything to do with me anymore?"

His breath tickled my ear, and my body promptly responded with goosebumps. "Because that wouldn't be the truth."

I closed my eyes, refusing to acknowledge the hope that was nonetheless building up in my heart.

I retorted: "Then tell me why my feelings are a problem."

I was expecting anything but his next words. "Because they are reciprocated."

I felt like I was riding an emotional rollercoaster. I said: "I don't see where's the problem in that."

He answered: "You don't? I see at least three. What about the fact that we must work together? What about you being human and me being an element? What about Sapphire?"

He did have a point. Three, actually.

Bemused, I asked: "So what are you doing here?"

"I'm following Sapphire's advice."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yes. She noticed that I'm getting too involved and she suggested I came here to clarify things."

"With me?"

"No. With myself."

I shook my head. "I don't get it."

He turned me around, keeping his hands on my shoulders. "I needed to see you to make a decision."

I swallowed. "What decision?"

He looked at me with an intensity that pierced my very soul and said, in a very husky voice: "How can you not see what I feel? Can't you see that the only thing I want to do right now is to yank that towel away and make love to you? But if I do that, I will never be able to work with you again, and I will never have another chance to see you."

My heart was beating so loud in response to his words, that I was sure the neighbor upstairs could hear it.

So I was actually amazed to hear my own surprisingly steady voice saying: "I'm going to finish my shower, now. You look like you might use one, too, so you are more than welcome to join me, but I'll leave the decision to you. I will not blame you in either case."

And, kissing him lightly on his soft lips, I left him standing there, dripping in the middle of my studio, utter indecision written all over his handsome face.

**THE END**


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